I booked a room for a friend going to Kyoto in November 11. It was difficult to find something at this very busy period. I know now why I at last found a room at Yachiyo.In fact, the room available at a very high price (a so-called "typical japanse" room) was under the roof with no view and noisy (sure! there is a tatami but that all).
They refused any discussion.

Great location, right in front of the gate to Nanzenji. We could walk to Heian jingu and Kyoto Handicraft center the next morning. About 800 yen taxi ride downtown in the evening for dinner (or you can borrow bikes and ride to town). We stayed in the 6-mat tatami with toilet - quite charming in Japanese style, room/bathroom itself clean and basic. Japanese breakfast is excellent. Yachiyo is a well-known old ryokan in Kyoto, known for its Tofu meals. Would recommend this place for a Japanese experience! Much prefer this location to the many ryokans around Kyoto station (Kyoto station area is not downtown).

Family of 4 with the first time in a Ryokan for my family. We spent 2 nights and enjoyed the huge rooms we had on the first floor. It was traditionnal with a nice view on the garden below. The futon beds were comfortable and the staff very nice. The only bad point is the street noise during the night. Very noisy. The breakfast was served by very nice ladies and my family experienced for the first time a japanese breakfast. Fun, even if they then wanted to have a coffee and bread sometimes after during the morning! The location is a little out of the center of Kyoto but with the busses it was very easy to go around. 20 minutes to the Ginkakuji,

Stayed for 3 nights at a room on the second floor. The room was comfortable and the staff were nice to deal with. The staff that I talked with knew at least a little bit of English and were comfortable with trying to communicate. The toilet and shower/bath were clean and worked as expected, along with the air conditioning.

I had breakfast every day and the Japanese version (they offer Western breakfast as well) was extremely tasty, they offer a large variety of food with it, so I was stuffed every morning.

The room overlooked a garden that was extremely beautiful and well-kept - as were the entire grounds of the ryokan. I felt that the price to stay was quite reasonable.

Highly recommended